Searching for Localization in Subradiant Atomic Arrays

Atomic arrays can exhibit collective light emission when the transition wavelength exceeds their lattice spacing. Subradiant states take advantage of this phenomenon to drastically reduce their overall decay rate, allowing for long-lived states in open systems strongly coupled to a bath. We build on previous work to investigate whether or not disorder can further decrease the decay rate of a partially excited atomic array. More specifically, we implement spatial disorder and frequency disorder of varying strengths in 1D, 2D, and 3D atomic arrays of various sizes, simulate the decay, and compare to simulations with zero disorder. We discuss the importance of the range of the light-mediated atom-atom interaction and also comment on the strengths and weaknesses of various computational methods when looking for localization in atomic arrays. Finding effective ways to enhance subradiance using disorder could help build platforms for quantum memory robust to strong interactions with their environment.